Accelerating Impact Through #GivingTuesday

Started in 2012 to kick-off the charitable season, #GivingTuesday is celebrated on the heels of the holiday sales sprint, landing right between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It’s a respite from the retail sales storm, focused on giving back to our communities and the causes that we care most about.

This year, CauseVox is involved in #GivingTuesday in a new way, kicking off our first #GivingTuesday “boot camp” with eight nonprofits, thanks to generous support from The Rockefeller Foundation. This program aims to increase volunteer and donor recruitment, inspire thought leadership, build outreach and community, and help these organizations meet their #GivingTuesday goals. On that latter point, the boot camp will be essential to help these eight organizations develop and tailor their own #GivingTuesday campaigns. In addition, CauseVox will work with each of them to build their year-round fundraising capacity—an integral step for helping any organization achieve its maximum impact.

As part of the overall program, each of the eight organizations that complete the #GivingTuesday boot camp will receive a $10,000 donation from The Rockefeller Foundation—fortifying their fundraising at one of the most important times of the year.

Not only do I encourage you to get to know each of the eight organizations below, but—more important—I encourage you to spend a few minutes researching organizations that you care about for this #GivingTuesday. Here are eight of our favorites, in their own words:

1. Community Solutions helps communities adopt the best problem-solving tools from multiple sectors to end homelessness and the conditions that create it. They work upstream and downstream of homelessness by helping communities end it where it happens and improve the conditions of inequality that make it more likely to happen in the future, especially in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty.
2. DataKind brings together top data scientists with leading social change organizations to collaborate on cutting-edge analytics and advanced algorithms to maximize social impact. DataKind provides social organizations with the pro bono data science innovation team they need to tackle critical humanitarian issues in the fields of education, poverty, health, human rights, the environment, and cities.
3. Feminist Press works to advance women’s rights and amplify feminist perspectives. They publish classic and new writing from around the world, create cutting-edge programs, and elevate silenced and marginalized voices in order to support personal transformation and social justice for all people.
4. Ghetto Film School is committed to educate, develop and celebrate the next generation of great American storytellers. They identify young talent from local communities and provide them with access, opportunity, and resources to pursue creative careers. GFS equips students for top universities and careers in the creative industries through two tracks: an introductory education program for high school students and early-career support for alumni and young professionals.
5. New Yorkers for Parks works tirelessly to protect open space across the city, as the only independent non-profit organization championing quality open space for all New Yorkers. New Yorkers for Parks conducts research and develops tangible policy recommendations around their findings related to park development, management, and sustainability. Using this research as a foundation for advocacy campaigns, NY4P drives both immediate actions and long-term policies.
6. The Resolution Projects helps university students pursue socially responsible solutions to issues affecting communities around the world through social ventures. Today, there are over 150 Resolution Fellows on six continents working on ventures addressing issues ranging from basic needs, food, development, education, energy and the environment, health and wellness, equality and empowerment, and humanitarian relief.
7. Thunder Valley is a grassroots community development corporation that is guided by the needs and ideas of our community. Their values are deeply rooted in Lakota values and the continued engagement of our community in this project.
8. WeRobotics’ mission is to sustainably localize appropriate robotics solutions in low-income countries to accelerate the positive impact of aid, health, development, and environmental efforts.